Firestar's Choice
Note: This is a short story with lots of parts in it. The characters in are MOSTLY real, but the plot is NOT. Especially Bramblestar's and Sharpstar's nine-life ceremony!!! PART1 Flames engulfed his vision as Firestar tried to struggle up. Get out of here! A voice screamed in his head. Get up, or you’ll be on your way to StarClan! Think, mousebrain! What about your Clan? What about Sandstorm? Making a one last, final effort to get up, his legs failed him. Nooooo! No, he couldn’t fail, no….. Firestar felt something stir inside him, as if part of him was trying to break the way out of him. StarClan? Spottedleaf? He screamed silently, but suddenly it all came back to him. Spottedleaf was dead. His strength ebbed, like a wave subsiding. So dark, he thought. So long, so dark. Is this StarClan? Or the Dark Forest? Stars swirled in his vision, until a sound rasped in his ear. Bluestar? Oh, Bluestar, I’ve missed you so much! He was suddenly swept back to the day when he was still Fireheart, deputy of ThunderClan, when Tigerstar was still roaming in the forest. The old forest. His heart ached with pain and loss. “It’s time to go.” Bluestar murmured softly in his ear. Sighing, he opened his eyes. Clanmates? His heart lept with joy when he spotted Brambleclaw, Sandstorm, Leafpool, and all his other Clanmates. Happiness rose in his throat as he swept his gaze over them. Dipping his head to Sandstorm, he leaned forward to touch noses with Brambleclaw. The deep amber pools glistened with pain. Bluestar tapped him with her tail, and he tore his gaze away from his friends, and padded after her, to StarClan. PART 2 Firestar had never felt so contented. Yet within the contentment there was a tinge of sadness. Why couldn't Sandstorm or Spottedleaf or even Princess(his sister) visit this place. He sighed. It seemed to him that there was nothing to strive to achieve in StarClan. Shrugging, he crept back to his den, the tangle of bramble and moss under a short oak tree stump. The shade cast by the patchy growth of ferns was enjoyable, and he purred. Suddenly the bushes started to tremble. DANGER!!! Firestar's instinct roared. DANGER DANGER DANGER!!! "Come out!" he snarled, and his claws slid out. The bushes stopped trembling and a face peeked out. Firestar narrowed his eyes. A familiar and contempt face. "What do you want, Mapleshade?" a new voice joined in. The flame-coloured tom's head snapped back. Another Dark Forest warrior? A large tabby tom with a crooked jaw padded out, hostility in his gaze. "Crookedstar!" Firestar bowed his head. This was the noble leader of RiverClan whom he had respected and feared in his time of the forest. "Do you know this...this," Firestar spat at Mapleshade. "Rogue?" "Of course I do. She made my life most misreable! She and that traitor Shredtail." Crookedstar clenched his jaws. "What are you doing here! How dare you show your mangy face after killing Hailstar!" Firestar tilted his head. He was only here for less that a half-moon so he was unfamiliar with the names of all these cats. Whatever. "I haven't forgotten that you killed Spottedleaf!" Firestar spat. Mapleshade's eyes glinted. "Sheathe your claws, foolish old cats." She purred. "I have something for you, young Rusty." Crookedstar shot Firestar a swift glance. the former ThunderClan leader's fur bristled. "Why should I listen?" "So you say," Mapleshade laughed. "I didn't know that ThunderClan's ancestors choose leaders this poorly nowadays." She literally spat the word Ancestors. Firestar bounced his tail uneasily. "Criticize me if you like," he retorted. "Just don't say bad things about my Clanmates." The orange and white, half-faded cat met his gaze. "I spit at ALL of the Clans. Even SkyClan and their petty old elders." Firestar frowned. "That's not true. SkyClan is noble and strong!" She sighed. "I wouldn't have expected less." "What do you mean?" Crookedstar's voice was tense Firestar blinked uneasily. "What do you mean?" Mapleshade pawed at the grass and a vision erupted in Firestar's head. Leafdapple- no Leafstar's- body laying in the clearing, surrounded by cats. As Firestar watched a ginger and white tom threw back his head and yowled with pure grief and fury. "No more lies," Crookedstar's voice cut through the horrifying vision. "C'mon Firestar, let's go." Mapleshade stared calmly at Firestar. "Don't forget," before leaping back into the sickly shadows of the Border. Crookedstar looked back over his shoulder. "Are you coming, Firestar? Silverstream wants to talk to you." Firestar nodded distractedly. Normally he would had bounded past Crookedstar at the sound of his best friend's beloved striped mate. But all he could think was of the vision. What did Mapleshade want? What happened to Leafstar? The ginger tom straightened. Whatever happens, he knew that he must make a trip back to SkyClan. PART 3 -back in ThunderClan- "Leafpool! Leafpool, wake up!" "Whaaa..." the brown tabby she-cat yawned. "Go away, Lionblaze!" Her son's face loomed in front of hers. "Hey Leafpool, and don't you remember that I'm the sub-deputy now." Leafpool purred. "Of course!" and shook scraps of moss from her fur. "What now, it's not even sunhigh yet!" A scratch on her shoulder stung with fury, and she winced. "Bad luck," a voice rasped. "But we need all of our warriors right now." She turned her head to stare at Mousewhisker, and the gray and white tom shook out his fur. "I'm leading the dawn patrol, do you want to come with me?" he mewed. Leafpool flicked her tail. "Of course! Mousebrain." She glanced at the medicine cat's den. Ever since the battle of the Dark Forest, Squirrelflight had been horribly injured and was probably now on her way to StarClan. If only StarClan could let her help her sister! Leafpool's claws left claw marks in the soft grassy earth. She sighed. Anyway, she's a warrior now, not a medicine cat. Jayfeather is. "Leafpool! Who do you want to take with you?" Why is he even asking? Leafpool thought, irritated. "Erm...Whitewing, Toadstep, Foxleap and Cherrypaw!" "OK," came the reply. She sat down and poked at the fresh-kill pile. She snorted. A thrush. That's all they had. To Mousewhisker, she mewed "Should we do some hunting on the way back?" She waited but there was no answer. Seriously! She poked her head inside. "Mousewhisker?" A gray and white head peeked out. "Sorry Leafpool! But did you see Foxleap?" "How would I know?" Leafpool replied, annoyed. Toms!!! "Foxleap went hunting with Rosepetal earlier," Dustpelt, a dark brown tabby mewed. "Seems that they are more than ready to become mates!!" Pride and sadness warred in his voice, and Leafpool fliched at the memory of Ferncloud, Dustpelt's mate and her own, Crowfeather. Then Hollyleaf's face flashed behind her eyes until her paws ached. She shook her head. Hunting first. She waved her tail. "C'mon Mousewhisker! All the prey would die of old age when you're done! PART 4 Jayfeather was bone tired. He had never remembered once when he had been so tired, not even after treating the cats from the Battle of the Dark Forest. A moon has past since Firestar had died, and Brambleclaw hadn't had the chance of getting his nine lives yet. Although the major danger has pasted, Jayfeather's dreams were dark and confused, and at one point he thought that he saw a badger clawing a brown-and-cream tabby viciously, although he did not know what it meant. ''Could Leafpool know more? ''He shook his head. No, no way. Leafpool is a warrior now, not a medicine cat.